72: CHRISTOPHER LOGUE: Come to the edge

Christopher Logue (1926-2011) was a an English poet. This poem is often misattributed to French writer Guillaume Apollinaire after it appeared on a poster advertising a Apollinaire exhibition. The poem has such simple prose and a sweet message that I complimented it with a Disney-style and tried to make it saccharine and overly-cute. I had fun with this one … but now I need to go draw something depraved and gross.

I love how you two represent the typical negative antagonists and trolls they come out of the woodwork when an artist begins to do something great and his efforts come to fruition that gives people encouragement and lifts them up. It’s just all the more proof that Gav’s work is doing something good if it is enticing people like you two to try and demur the positive effects of his craft.

Though you probably won’t, I recommend you both read this article, and then proceed to stop hating and start creating.

Maybe you represent the hopeful idealist blindly following those greater them him expounding ideas for things far greater but shunning the work of creating a new way of being. Sometimes a little cynicism is a good thing. It helps but the incredible works onto spec. Other wise you just blinding walk without a clue

Take it from someone who knows from experience. You’re a fool; Cynicism never protects; it avoids. It hides. It refuses to acknowledge. It chooses to remain ignorant on the off chance something will hurt you. Cynicism never provides possibilities; instead it destroys hope. It destroys the reasons of living beyond bare subsistence.

Cynicism isn’t ignorance, which is what you’re desperately describing. And it tends, much more often than not, to produce working solutions instead of ideolised and romanticised travesty’s that cost more to produce a mediocre solution that would’ve worked in either scenario.

Teaching a child to swim and then taking them to the water so they can try on their is what cynics tend to do. They recongise the risks involved and don’t just throw their inexperienced child into the water and expect that they will learn how to swim with adversity alone.

It’s the cynics of the world who recognise dictators before they gain power, it’s cynics that point out the hypocrisy in society (only to be told that the heart felt story about a Marine saving kittens, to encourage blind loyalty to the troops, is allowed to be fake because it’s “the meaning that matters”). Cynics point out that, shit, you should probably teach them to fly before killing the fourth bird and going “oh well”. Because they clearly never learned to fly from the mother there.

Thank you Gav and to Troy who submitted the quote! you inspired me today…coz actually, I badly need motivation as of the moment… I feel so excited as I’ve checked my mail and found you have a new update from your site. Continue what you are doing Gav and we will always support you in our own ways. — with Love from Philippines! 🙂

My high school English teacher used to recite this poem to everyone backstage on the first night of our musicals. It’s something I’ve always held onto, but I never remembered who wrote it or really thought to look it up. Thanks for bringing back some fond memories.

Thank you for this great comic! I rearranged the pictures (to fit an A4 page) and replaced “he” with “she”. I will give a print of it to my mom as a birthday present. It fits perfectly because my brother and I left home just one year ago.
I love your work, keep it going!

How appropriate, how perfect! I am a rock climber & I help other people climb too; The next kid who gives me an excuse will get this quoted to them. I’ve been reading ZenPencils all night. Wonderful work. I get a sense that the older bird is calm, even when he is in caps lock. Emphasizing his words, not yelling angrily. Calm and wise. Something to aspire to.

Patience is better than wisdom: an ounce of patience is worth a pound of brains. All men praise patience, but few enough can practise it; it is a medicine which is good for all diseases, and therefore every old woman recommends it; but it is not every garden that grows the herbs to make it with.